Tales of the Disneyverse

Baby Mine

          Theresa, Marla, Shelly, and Tiffany continued along on their journey through sunset, having wandered through the African jungle for hours with Dumbo in search for his mother. By nightfall, they were forced to depend on the glow from Tiffany's eyes to guide their way into the darkness. It surprised each of them how much of the Tarzan realm remained intact during the merger – not a sign anywhere of the Dumbo side, except for the railroad that the Casey, Jr. circus train rode on. It prolonged their search and made their trek a bit tedious, especially with none of them saying much to each other.

            It was Theresa who finally spoke up, breaking the long silence. "So...who has a theory on where the source of the rift is?" The other three reincarnations simply shrugged in response, neither of them having any clue. Admittedly, Theresa did not either. No surprise – I never was one for a good hypothesis, she thought. "O.K.," she said, trying for another attempt. "What about you ladies? How did you three come to be in your reincarnations? What adventures have you had?"  

            Marla, who was the first out of the four of them to be reincarnated, was quick to voice her concern on the topic: "Whoa, now. Wait a minute. I don't think it's such a good idea to talk about things those of us who came much earlier don't know about yet – like our deaths...particularly mine!"  

            Theresa grinned. "Well, what if we gain some sort of advantage to finding out beforehand? We'll be able to avoid our deaths ahead of time by learning of them. Except for you, Marla – you manage to live well over three centuries and die of old age!"  

            "Oh, dang it, girl! I wish you hadn't tol—" Marla stopped and realized what Theresa just told her, so surprised by it that she nearly tripped on a rock. "Wait. For real? You're playin' me, aren't ya?"  

            "Nope." Tiffany said, trying her best not to make eye contact with the others in risk of blinding them. "She's right."  

            Shelly smiled and also vouched. "Yep. Much of what we were able to learn from the Disneyverse and other worlds had come from your extensive lifespan."  

            Marla was astonished to hear this. "Man! Now that is ten shades of cool right there! Wonder what all I get to know about!"  

            "What about you, Theresa?" Shelly directed the conversation over to the second of the four of them in the reincarnation line. "What's your story?"  

            Theresa dug her hands deep into the front pockets of her robe, smirking. "Welp. Since my successor's not here to divulge on my death, I'll just talk a little about my birth – which should be an interesting topic for you, Marla."  

            "How so?" Marla inquired.  

            "Well, for starters, I woke up alone in a cold forest at night. I was naked, but I thankfully had my robe to keep me warm. It was so dark I could barely see the new hands I inherited, so I waited until sunlight before I could get a look at my new face and body. I looked slightly different than I do now – my hair was dark, like really black." As she reflected on that last part, she brushed the fingers of her right hand through her long brown locks, temporarily exposing her forehead, which had been practically hidden beneath her bangs.  

            Shelly's body shivered, but not from the night air of the jungle. "I remember that night – worst one of my life. I remember how terrified I felt, waking up in that chilly forest. I can't even recall what world it was in, just how much I wanted to be out of it. A whole night spent not knowing who I was or what I looked like, not able to sleep or eat. When that sun finally came, I scavenged like a hungry rat for a mirror or something that could show me who I'd become...it was terrible!"